Party Gals Linky Party No. 6

Welcome to the Party Gals Linky Party!  We're a group of  CREATIVE PARTY PLANNERS here to share with you our love of parties, entertaining, delicious recipes, DIY ideas and crafts!  Visit us every other Friday to see what's new in our party world and link up with us to share your own fabulous ideas! 

Every other Friday, visit any of us on our blogs to check out a fun party inspired project, idea, recipe or craft. We'll share all our tips and inspiration with you and what's even better is, you get to share your creativity with us too!  Each post will have a linky party tool at the very end where you can link up with other awesome creatives!

To start things off, I'm sharing  how to make an altered composition notebook for back-to-school (and because The Mini Diva hates those black and white ones)

Altered Composition Book

For more party ideas and crafty projects and to see more of my own personal faves from the linky party, visit me on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook !  Be sure to use the hashtag  #ThePartyGalsLinky

Here are more great and inspiring ideas, recipes and how-to's from the rest of the Party Gals:

Football Party Tablescape

Tailgate Party Ideas

Chocolate Football Cereal Treats

DIY Homemade Hand Purifier

Double Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

"Thank you for partying with us! "

GRAB A PARTY GALS BUTTON  We'd love for you to also share that you're partying with us by linking to Party Gals Linky on your blog.  You can grab one of our buttons here:"

JOIN OUR LINKY PARTY!

We'd love for you to link up with us too!  Leave a link to a post with a creative idea, craft, diy, recipe or project you would like to share.  We'll select our favorites in a future post and on our Pinterest/Instagram page! 

By participating in our linky party and leaving a link below, you give us permission to share your photo and idea on our blogs and social media pages with a link back to you (we promise).  Links to shops, contests, sweepstakes or giveaways will be removed from the party.  Please link to your own blogs and projects and be sure to leave a comment on your favorite projects!

An InLinkz Link-up

   

{Holiday Ideas} 3rd Annual Cookie Recipe Swap

Today, I'm sharing a yummy cookie recipe sent to me by Nikki Wills at Tikkido.  We exchanged cookie recipes as part of the 3rd Annual Holiday Cookie Recipe Swap hosted by  Julie from White Lights on Wednesday.

I must be honest, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you will know that I am not a cookie maker type of person.  I always say, it's not that I can't make them, I just don't....usually.  So, you might be wondering if I don't really bake cookies, why did I decide to participate in a cookie swap?  Well, simply because it sounded like fun and it would give me a chance to share a recipe with a different audience and maybe even make a new friend!  The irony in this is that the person I was selected to swap recipes with is someone who I'm already party friends with!  LOL  So, while I might not be making a new friend, at least if I botch the cookie recipe....I know that Nikki will go easy on me!

For the swap, Nikki shared a family cookie recipe with me for Big Soft Ginger Cookies that I must tell you, is so simple to make and sooo YUMMY. Nikki shared a funny with me that she actually has the word 'YUMMM!!!' written on her own recipe card -- and she wasn't lying!.

Here's Nikki's recipe.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
2 t ground ginger
1 t baking soda
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
3/4 cups butter or shortening (you can also do 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup butter flavored Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses (I added 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar)
sugar (for rolling balls of dough before baking)

1.In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.  set aside.

2. In an electric mixer, beat butter and Crisco on low speed for about 30 seconds.  Gradually add the 1 cup of sugar, and beat until fluffy.  Add egg and molasses, beat well.

3. Stir dry mixture into egg mixture, and mix until combined.

4. Shape dough into about 1 1/2 inch balls (a heaping tablespoon dough, or a small scoop.  Roll balls in the extra sugar and place on an un-greased cookie sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart.  This batch makes about 24 cookies.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, until light brown but still puffed.  Do not overbake!  Let stand on cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 I did make some adjustments to the recipe Nikki sent.  I made these cookies late one evening and realized that I'd forgotten to pick up molasses from the store.  So,  I substituted it with a 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar.  Also, I ONLY used butter....not the shortening, simply because I didn't have shortening on hand.  I found that I had to bake my cookies a little longer than 10 minutes.  Since oven times vary, I would recommend making a small batch of cookies first and test the baking time out for your oven. 

Once your cookies have cooled, you can plate them (I made this dish using a glass plate from the dollar store and a Sharpie) on a dish or put into cellophane bags and pass out at hostess or teacher's gifts! Add a fancy tag and label and you're all set!

Thanks NIkki for your fabulous recipe and thanks to Julie for including me in the holiday cookie swap!  This was lots of fun.  To view other cookie recipes go to the links below.

HOST

Julie from White Lights on Wednesday

CO-HOSTS

Aubrey from Real Housemoms

Rachel from {i love} my disorganized life

Wendy from Around My Family Table

Laura from Pink Cake Plate

Abbey from The Cards We Drew

Kelley from Miss Information

Carli from Dimple Prints

{Thursday Inspiration} Valentine's Day Round-Up #2

Yay!  It's my second Valentine's Day Round-up!!!!  I just love all of these wonderful creations that my DiD friends and other fave bloggers have shared.

What little sweetheart wouldn't love these adorable felt heart barrettes from the Purl Bee?

These scratch off Valentine's by fellow DiD'er Lindsay from Easy-Made Invitations are THE MOST!  She's got an easy tutorial on how to create your own.

The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle's Callye, has the most amazing cookie art EVAH....I love her style!  These simple dotty Valentine's cookies are so bright and cheery.  LOVES 'EM!

This Be Mine Valentine's collection by Bella Grey Designs makes me wanna press the cute button over and over!

Show your child's appreciation with this adorable teacher's Valentine by Home Confetti.

Valentine's cocktails or breakfast in bed would look lovely served on this fancy tray by Debbie from Party Patisserie

You can vote for Debbie's tray in this contest

Send a love note to your Valentine with these chevron cards by Valerie from Greyson Designs

Moodylicious-ly fun Valentine's party from children's spa product extraordinaire, Christina DeJesus!

These chocolate brownies by Bernice from Betty Bake just ooooooze sweet love!  YUM!

Photo Credit: Bernice Griffiths

I just adore this very romantic tablescape by Sandra from Sweet Sensations.

Mary from Special Occasion Design is really 'on the ball' with this beautiful rose pomander creation!

Thanks for reading and I hope you were inspired to create something lovely & romantic!